Simone Biles has often credited her parents with helping her become the world-renowned athlete she is today. Biles was just six years old when she was adopted by Ronald Biles, and his wife Nellie, who are also the parents of her biological mother. The 7x Olympic medalist kept from narrating her adoption story for a long time. But now, she doesn’t hesitate to shed light or share a laugh about her team’s reaction when she first broke the news.

During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Biles talked about how she came to know about her adoption. Her parents adopted her from foster care, where Biles was placed when she was three, along with her siblings.

“Practice stopped” Simone Biles reveals the reaction of her gymnastics team on hearing she is adopted

In the podcast, the 27-year-old made an appearance to give a sneak peek into her life, but she didn’t hesitate to elaborate on her adoption. She revealed that her family did tell her that she was adopted quite early on. Biles said, “From the moment we were adopted, my family told us, You guys are adopted. And I was like, Cool, okay. Right. Great. I don’t know what that means. And then they had asked us if we wanted to call them Mom and Dad. And from my knowledge, I was like, Perfect. Why wouldn’t I?” She then talked about how those at the gym were surprised when she disclosed this information.

Biles narrated, “I remember this day at gym, we were talking about our families, and they had said something, and I was like, Oh, well, I’m adopted. It felt like everything in the room in the gym stopped. They were like, What? You’re adopted?…I was like, Why is everyone freaking I was like, Well, you know my parents, those are my grandparents. My uncles that I call my brother now, those were my uncles.”

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She further added how people were curious to find out about her including the coaches. “I just remember we all sat on the floor, practice stopped because everybody needed to know the story. The coaches were intrigued. Everybody, they were like, You’re adopted? I was just like, Well, yeah, aren’t you?,” she added. Biles also said that she was surprised to know that her friends were not adopted.

“I’m just so confused. It was normal for you. When they say the stork brings the babies, I’m like, How did you get here? Stop. You weren’t picked? You weren’t in a house, and then you were-You were adopted? That was shocking to me.” Biles’ parents, Ronald and Nille played a massive role in her success, something that Biles has always pointed out.

In the podcast, she explained how their support has always been critical in her journey.

“Being adopted since I was six years old to now, it’s been a long road and journey, career-wise, and just like who Simone is instead of Simone Biles,” she said on the podcast. Speaking about her parents, she said, “Their support means the world to me. They’ve never really missed a competition. They’ve supported everything that I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Biles’ parents enrolled her at the Bannon’s Gymnastix, along with her little sister Adria, when she was six. There she practiced under Aimee Boorman. 11 years later when Boorman decided to leave the gym, Biles wasn’t ready for the relationship to end. Hence, her mother took a big step.

Nellie Biles shut down her nursing home business to build a gym for their little child after a chat with Boorman. This meant Biles continued to train under Boorman and didn’t have to move from gym to gym.

Now training at that World Champions Center, it’s not only her but several more passionate souls who want to walk in Simone Biles’ footsteps. Not only this, but Nellie Biles helped Simone plan her wedding with Jonathan Owens. In an interview with People last year, Simone Biles said, “She’s someone I can bounce things off of and has been letting me do my thing as I figure out what works for us.”

Biles’ adoption story took her teammates by surprise but to her, this was the family she had always known and one that played a massive role in her journey from foster care to the Olympic podium.